


time for a change

by emptymasks



Series: i dreamt about you last night and i fell out of bed twice [6]
Category: House M.D.
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Boss/Employee Relationship, Break Up, Breaking Up & Making Up, Episode Related, Episode Tag, Episode: s03e22 Resignation, Episode: s03e23 The Jerk, Episode: s03e24 Human Error, Episode: s04e01 Alone, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Hurt, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Missing Scene, Older Man/Younger Man, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, mention of alcoholism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24047044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptymasks/pseuds/emptymasks
Summary: "Is this because you can't work with someone you're dating? Because if anything I think that helps our relationship.""I said it was time for a change.""What the fuck does that mean?! Time to freshen up the workplace, or you think you need a change in who you wake up next to in the morning as well?""This doesn't have to end-""Yes. It does. Give me a better reason for firing me or we're over."
Relationships: Robert Chase/Greg House
Series: i dreamt about you last night and i fell out of bed twice [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547803
Comments: 22
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

"Foreman's really resigning then?" Chase flopped down onto the bed next to House.

"It would seem so."

"And you didn't try and talk him out of it?"

"Well of course I tried."

Chase turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Did you really?"

"He wants to leave because he doesn't want to turn into me, I tried to point out he already was."

"God I can't imagine why that didn't convince him to stay," Chase laced his voice with dry sarcasm. "And that's not even true, there's no one else like you."

"How very sweet of you... Did you try and talk him out of it?"

"He said he didn't like me. That he never has and never will."

"Oh," House had that little crease in his brow that showed he was trying to figure out what emotion he should be showing. "That upset you?"

"Not really... It probably should have... Eh, maybe a little, I don't know. I just tried to ask him why he was leaving and he wouldn't say, seems being afraid of turning into you is something he's ashamed of, and so are you."

"I don't know about ashamed-"

"But you don't want him to leave."

"...But I don't want him to leave."

"See you can admit that to me, why not to him?" Chase twisted and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Well, for one very, big obvious reason: I'm not dating Foreman."

Chase laughed and ducked his head so House couldn't see the stupid smile he had on his face just from hearing House referring to them as 'dating'. It was a fact. He shouldn't get all stupidly smiling and warm and fuzzy about it. He peeked back at House through his hair and caught House smiling and that made his stupid smile bigger and goddammit he was such a sap.

"I don't want to have to hire someone else, it was hard enough picking you three to put up with."

"I'm sure you'll find at least one other person in the world who can put up with working for you. Hell, maybe there's a whole group of them somewhere you can whittle your way through."

"I doubt it, but I don't need to think about that considering I only have to hire someone once Foreman leaves."

"Which he's doing really, really soon."

"He's not going to leave."

"Oh, this again. House, he seems pretty set on it."

"I know he's not going to leave."

Chase sighed. "You don't know everything."

\-----

Another day, another patient. A fifteen year old boy beat up another kid in a fit of rage after winning a chess match, and then suffered from severe pain in his head.

And he was a dick.

It's not like Chase had forgotten what some teenagers could be like, but this kid was something else. Chase was worried for a second that he was actually going to deck the little shit.

"I hate this kid," Chase said as he angrily wrote 'RAGE' on the whiteboard, taking his frustrations out on the marker as it's tip bent awkwardly against the board.

"I like this kid," House pipped up from behind him, sounding far too cheerful.

"You haven't met him."

"I know you hate him. What more do I need to know?" House stared at him and once Foreman and Cameron had turned their heads away he winked at Chase. "The kid's not a cliché. Anybody can get into a fight after losing, it takes real creativity to beat up someone you just beat."

"Pain's not limited to his head," Cameron answered.

"The rest of the bumps and bruises accounted for the by the seventeen fights he's been in this semester," Chase scowled, he really couldn't blame anyone for wanting to beat this kid up.

"Concussion?"

"MRI was clean. No frontal lobe tumour. And the tox screen showed no trace of coke or amphetamines."

Chase watched House prod and goad Foreman, but Foreman just carried on as usual. Come on, it was his last day, finally a chance to treat House however he wanted, Chase was surprised he was passing on the opportunity.

House chastised them again and was sure of this cluster headaches theory, sending them off to start the brat, Adam, on blood thinners and to give him transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Chase had gotten into the habit now of hanging back. The others must think he's having memory problems with the constant excuses of almost forgetting things, or double-checking with House. It's not as if he was ready to tell them that he was dating House... Alright, maybe he was ready. He wasn't a fan of keeping relationships secrets, that normally ended up hurting someone and he was happy with House and so why wouldn't he want people to know? (Okay, because _it's House._ ) But as much as he was okay with telling people, he wondered if House was.

Chase hadn't really brought up the topic and just assumed secret is what House wanted so people at work wouldn't make a big deal and Cuddy wouldn't make them sign some weird relationship contract with human resources. But what if House didn't mind either way and was worried that Chase was ashamed or embarrassed about being with him? It was far from the truth and while at first the thought of House worrying about something like that seemed ridiculous, the more Chase was breaking through that shell the more insecurities he saw.

"You really hate him?"

"Uh, what?" Chase totally hadn't been spacing out. But instead of looking annoying, House's mouth just tugged upwards at the corner.

"I know I am very distracting to look at," House crowded in close and Chase could feel his skin heating up. "But I do hate having to repeat myself."

"Maybe you'll have to teach me to pay better attention."

House hummed and reached his hand out for a moment, but then glanced at the wall made entirely of glass that stood behind them and pulled back. "You really hate the kid?"

"Um," Chase shook himself as he tried to reel back into a normal conversation after the flirting. "Yeah. He's all the worst stereotypes of a badly behaved teenager rolled into one. I can't stand him."

House grinned. "Well, I have to meet him then."

\-----

So it seemed like it was cluster headaches. They were going with it, but Chase had been doing this job long enough to know that their first conclusion wasn't normally the right one, it was a necessary one to make because without eliminating what it can't be they couldn't figure out what it could be, but still not normally a correct diagnosis. If the cluster headaches theory was true it could be good news, not just because it wasn't a terribly serious diagnosis, but because it could put Adam's hostile and rude personality down to an problem in his brain, and not that being a jerk was just who he was.

He approached Adam's mother, Enid, to explain to her what was going on with the procedure and tell her that she shouldn’t be too concerned about it.

"Cluster headaches can persist for years, cause irritability or even hostility towards others."

"You mean..." Enid stared up at him as if he was telling her he'd just stopped her son from dying. "The illness is affecting his personality?"

"If these treatments work, it could..."

"...Change him?"

 _Don't give her too much hope._ "Yeah."

"Oh, thank God," She burst into tears but she seemed happy, glad and relieved. "Oh. Oh, you must think I'm awful. Here, my son's lying in a hospital bed and..."

"I… I'm pretty sure I get it," Chase reassured her. He did, in a way. Sure, he couldn't relate to having to raise a child, but Chase had only spent at most a couple of hours with Adam and that was enough to make him hate the kid. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to raise someone who constantly snapped back at you and was mean to you. Family members shouldn't treat each other like that...

"I thought I was a bad mother. And I hated myself. Because I hated him."

And that sentence that a small hurricane through Chase's mind.

"You're not a bad mother," He gave a reassuring smile and got out of the room as quickly as possible.

 _Because I hated him._ It rang through his head. It was stupid, this wasn't anything like his relationship with his mother, here there was a son behaving badly and the mother trying to look after him and forgive him... Chase's life had been the other way around. But those words... The admission from a mother that she hated her own son, it sent flashbacks reeling through his brain of his own mother yelling the same thing at him, her words slurred as she would push him about, her insides thick with alcohol.

Chase's mind kept reeling as he walked through the hospital, not fully sure where he was going. He supposed he was on autopilot to go and hide out in the conference room but-

"Aren't you meant to be with the patient?" House's voice rang out.

Okay, so he had made it to the conference room. He glanced to his right and the door between the room and House's office was open. House was sat with his feet propped up on the desk, sucking on one of those red lollipops.

"I... uh..." Chase didn't know what to say as he walked forward. Lie or tell the truth? House was supposed to be support now and all that so... could the truth hurt?

"What? Got no excuse?" House put on an exaggerated, disappointed face, which slipped off and into something more akin to concern as he saw Chase didn't react or say anything back. "You okay?"

Chase nodded and kept his eyes fixed on the carpet. Perhaps if he just focused on the shade and texture of it the stinging in his eyes would go away.

"Chase? Chase?!" House was blocking his vision of the carpet, he raised his hands before leaving Chase's field of vision. Chase heard the blinds close. Then House was back in front of him, one hand creeping up to hold the back of his neck. "What happened?"

"S'nothing."

"It's clearly not nothing, or you'd be out there doing your damn job." There were harsh words, but nothing harsh in his tone.

"Adam's mum was just... The patient's mum was just saying things about being a bad mother, about hating her son... it just... it dug up some stuff and I couldn't... I needed to..." He sucked in a deep breath. "I'll be alright, I just needed a minute."

"Good, I don't need to lose two employees today." And okay that was harsher. He wasn't enough of a fool to think House was always going to be soft but... well perhaps thinking about Foreman leaving was getting to him more than he was letting on.

"Yeah, right, I'm going to head back out there then," He started to leave the room but House's hand was around his wrist holding him in place. House looked so deep in thought he might not even know that he has holding onto Chase. He looked distracted and Chase pushed up on his toes a little, noses almost brushing together, and unfurled his fingers along House's jawline and kissed him. That seemed to bring House back to the present. "I'll see you later."

His brain was still running around a little, and as much as he wanted to be annoyed with House, he couldn't help but feel smug about catching him off-guard with that kiss.

\-----

Chase and Cameron sat in comfortable silence as they ran the tests, a blue glow surrounding them. That was a nice thing about Cameron, somehow it never felt awkward when it was just them two in a room together no matter how little they were talking.

"No markers for hepatic fibrosis," He squinted at the monitor through the goggles he was wearing. "Nothing for MCADD."

"Foreman's interview in New York got screwed up," She said out of nowhere.

Chase had heard some of the nurses talking about how Foreman was storming around the hospital. No doubt he probably blamed House. "I heard."

"Foreman thought it was House, House thought it was Cuddy. Cuddy thought it was Wilson, Wilson thought it was me..."

Chase looked up and she was starting at him, accusingly. "And you think it was me?" He laughed. "God... you think I... _sabotaged_ Foreman? I don't even want him here." He was surprised Wilson would accuse Cameron, everything else he could believe. And like he cared what Foreman did. He thought they'd gotten along fine as colleagues, never gone as far to think of him as a friend, but after Foreman's little goodbye 'I hate you' speech he'd said to Chase yesterday, Chase was far from his biggest fan.

"I know."

"Then why would I do...?"

"I think you sabotaged Foreman just to sabotage Foreman."

Well that stung. Did he really come off as that much of a jerk? Okay the stuff that had happened with Vogler, okay maybe Cameron realised he was annoyed that Foreman didn't like him... but to think that he'd mess someone around like this? Did she know him at all? They'd been working together for three years at this point for god's sake.

He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "So everyone's a suspect because everyone wants to help House. Except for me. I'm a suspect because I'm a petty, vindictive jerk?" She just stared back at him. Either she really believed that or she had no good response and couldn't come up with an excuse. "You actually think I would do something like that?"

"It was someone.

"It wasn't me."

He turned back to the computer, waiting for the next result to come through. If everyone was going around eliminating suspects, did everyone think it was him? Did House? Though, Chase did think it was House. Was that just as bad? To be fair, it was very petty and in character for House, it wasn't in character for him. Cuddy really believed that it wasn't House? He assumed she'd asked him. And House had told Foreman it was Cuddy? She didn't want him to leave the hospital, but she respected people's personal lives and decisions. _Unlike some._

No, it had to have been House.

\-----

Once the day was over, Chase got changed and headed to House's office. He always went by to see if they were going to leave together, even though House often liked to come in on his bike and often stayed and brainstormed or sulked in his office until midnight.

It seemed sulking was on tonight's agenda. House was leaned over his desk staring at a chess board as if it had screamed an insult at him. He was probably still hung up on that brat beating him at chess. House couldn't stand to be beat. He'd probably be in here the rest of the night figuring out some possible alternate way because he of course had to know more about everything, even though he was a doctor and not some professional chess player (those were a thing right?). Unlike Adam who'd been playing dedicating hours to chess for years.

Chase came to a stop in front of House's desk. "You sabotaged Foreman's job interview, didn't you?"

House sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Foreman's already been over this. It wasn't me." He made a move to go back to playing chess against himself, fingers reaching for the king, but Chase swooped his hand over, picking the king up and taking it away from House.

"Everybody's chasing ghosts over this. Which means either nobody did it, or somebody wants everybody chasing ghosts. Now, who does that sound like?"

House pulled this little smile as if he was proud Chase had learnt his ways by now. "And why would I do that?"

"Because as long as Foreman thought you were guilty, he was going to be useless around here."

Oh House was really smiling now. No, he was smirking. "You know, sometimes I forget why I hired you." He leaned back in his chair but Chase wasn't going to start fawning over the praise.

"You cost him a good opportunity and gained nothing." He pointed the chess piece at House accusingly, and sat down opposite him.

"I cost him a crappy opportunity. New York Mercy's where you go to treat boils and cysts and build a four-o-one K."

He'd called it. House didn't want Foreman to leave. "If you want him to stay, tell him."

"I don't and there'd be no point."

"You do. And the point would be to make him feel like he's wanted."

"He doesn't need that."

"All right, then," Chase rolled his eyes. "It'd make him feel like maybe you weren't evil." He drummed the king against the table. "He needs that."

He banged the piece against the table again, trying to get House's attention as the man seemed distracted. He was just staring at Chase's hand. Was he really more focused on having the chess piece back? Fine then. Chase stretched out his hand, offering the king back to House. "Talk to Foreman."

He watched as House kept staring off in the distance. "We dumped one symptom. But forgot to add one."

What?

House grabbed a couple of chess pieces and walked out of the room.

What?

Honestly, what was wrong with House? Here Chase was, trying to have a serious conversation, and something happens that just so happens to trigger some connection in House's brain and he's now going to go off and tell the kid some magical news about a new diagnosis.

\-----

"So I leaned over his bed and told him 'I wouldn't have taken your bishop. I'd have moved my queen to D6, defusing the threat. Then rook to E8, attacking the king's pawn. I'd have lost the exchange, but won the game'". House was getting undressed as Chase laid spread out on the bed.

"How'd he take that?" It was weird, House was boasting but he wasn't grinning.

"Like a jerk."

Chase laughed. "I hate that kid."

"God, so do I."

House climbed into bed and as much as Chase wanted to enjoy the moment, he couldn't help but push.

"So, you going to stop Foreman or not?"

"I already said-"

"He's really going to leave, you know that right?"

"No he won't."

"Why? Because he couldn't survive without you? House, there's so many other jobs out there he could take."

"And none of them would be as good as the one he has now."

"But _you_ wouldn't be there. That's the biggest plus for him. The only thing he's looking for in a job is the absence of you."

House didn't say anything. Chase wasn't trying to make him upset, he wasn't even sure that was possible, he just wanted House to stop being such a coward and learn that it was okay to show others emotion. He knew it had taken time for House to open up him, but if he could learn to start to do it here then maybe he could just... just grow up a little.

"House?"

"I'm asleep."

"Pretty sure you're not."

"Go to sleep, wombat." House grunted it out and Chase was a little taken aback. He really hadn't meant to upset him, just try and push him a little.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but House had turned away from him. Chase didn't want to go through this. They'd managed to get through tough times before, but it had worked because he'd managed to get them to talk. He didn't know what to do when House just kept shutting down and shutting him out.

He just hoped he could get him to talk tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... remember when I was writing this series and I had one final fic to go... and then wrote the first chapter of that final part but didn't post it and never wrote chapter two and it's been six months... (EDIT: I looked back at the plan I wrote for this fic (thank god it's the one fic I've ever written a plan for) and turns out actually this is/was going to have six chapters and not two... so whoops).
> 
> Basically I was in a terrible place mental health wise when I wrote this series, to the point that once I got out of it (which I did a few months ago and I'm working my way to being better) I associated this ship and these fics with that mental space, and so thinking about it made me feel... just really not good.
> 
> But. I've been feeling so inspired to write lately and I hate that I never posted the first chapter of this and I hate and I was so close to finishing and never did and I hate that I feel uncomfortable when I think about this ship and show just because of where I was when I watched it. I want to feel good about it again and finally move on.
> 
> It's been so long since I wrote this and watched House that I'm going to have to rewatch the episodes to understand what I was writing and I'm having to re-read this just to know how to tag it because I barely remember it.
> 
> So, I wrote this fic on November 27th-29th 2019. Today is May 7th 2020. I'm going to backdate this first chapter to the day I actually wrote it because I think once you see this chapter and then compare it to chapter two it may be obvious they were written at different times because I feel I've gotten a lot better at writing over the last six months and I'm sort of very worried about that. 
> 
> Hopefully it's fine.
> 
> To anyone reading this who was reading the series back in autumn, hi, hello, thank you for giving this series another chance. Also thank you for reading this ridiculously long author's note.


	2. Chapter 2

"What on earth are you doing?" Chase asked as he watched House grab items out of the back of the car.

"It's called a disguise," House said as he slipped the baseball cap onto his head and waved around the comically large newspaper.

"What would you need a disguise... for... You're not coming to the leaving party are you?"

"Foreman wouldn't want me there anyway."

"Did you even ask him?" Chase got no reply. "You see, there you go again just assuming things and not talking. I know this whole situation is getting to you."

"It is not 'getting to me'."

"And I'm supposed to believe that when you're starting to stalk him?"

"I wouldn't call it stalking?"

"And what would you call it?"

"Spying," House grinned as he shut the trunk and walking off into the building.

Honestly, Chase was sort of dreading today. On one hand, Foreman would have his leaving party and they'd get through his last day of work and part ways like amicable colleagues. On the other hand, Chase lived in a universe where House existed.

Chase watched as House settled into a seat in the cafeteria, hiding his face behind the not at all conspicuous newspaper. Perhaps they'd be lucky. Perhaps House would just act a bit like a child losing a favourite toy, and then they'd all move on. Perhaps, not that Chase cared either way, Foreman would change his mind.

Because he really didn't care either way.

Alright, so it would be easier for all of them if Foreman stayed, but it's not like they were friends. Everyone in the hospital knew that out of the three of them, Foreman was the one who'd get promoted next, the unofficial leader of their trio, and with him out of the way Chase could fill that spot.

But it would just be easier, wouldn't it? For everything to stay the same. But the world didn't work like that and House didn't seem to want to accept it. Chase honestly couldn't remember the last time House had changed anything in his life.

Well, he supposed _they_ were a pretty big change... or an addition. But House was a man who wore his clothes out until they were more hole than garment. So this... this could go wrong in so many ways.

Chase would just have to keep his fingers crossed that they'd all make it through the day in one piece.

\-----

Imagine travelling hundreds and hundreds of miles, and ultimately almost failing and downing in the ocean, just to see House.

Chase couldn't imagine it. Travelling that far to seek help from a brilliant doctor, not knowing he's notorious for not wanting to see his patients. They'd probably still made the right choice, House was the best doctor Chase knew, but he could feel the impending disappointment they were going to feel when they realised House wasn't going to be their guardian angel.

He wasn't going to wish House would change... Alright maybe he wished for some small changes, but he knew what he was getting into with House. He'd known he was a prick for years before they'd gotten together. But where they were right now, it was working, so in theory, if things didn't change too much it could continue to work...

Foreman's laughter broke through his thoughts.

And then there was _that_ issue. House had kept acting all chipper but Chase could feel there was a rising tension between all of them. Perhaps House really was convinced that Foreman was going to turn around at the end of the day, fall onto his knees and tell House how sorry he was and how he'd love to still work for him.

Chase wasn't really sure how House was going to deal with coming into work and Foreman not being there. Over time, Chase of course had realised that House does care about people, and Foreman was a person... Look, he wasn't sad to see Foreman go, not that he was going to celebrate it either. They got along, sometimes, but he wasn't sure he'd call Foreman a friend.

Mainly because he was fairly certain Foreman didn't like him. ( _Not_ that that bothered him or played on any insecurities he had, thank you very much.)

House kept thinking that, knowing Foreman, he would decide not to leave. But Chase figured, knowing House, that House ultimately wouldn't be able to let him go.

Foreman was a good doctor and House had hated having to hire them. Was he really going to go through that process all over again?

"House really isn't stopping him then?" Cameron chirped up from behind him. He wondered why she was asking him, but she had seemed to be... fairly astute. He was pretty sure she'd noticed him and House being closer, though he wasn't sure if she'd worked out just how close.

"He's really not stopping him," Chase turned to grab the pen for the whiteboard, noticing how Foreman's shoulders were shaking as he chuckled over something on his computer. "Pretty sure he thinks somehow it just won't happen. And, to be honest, he might be right."

"What, he's suddenly going to want to stay?" Cameron almost laughed.

"I am still here you know," Foreman called back.

"Didn't think you'd be able to hear us, what with how riveting your emails are," Chase pressed the pen harder into the whiteboard than was necessary as he continued writing the list of symptoms, throwing the pen on the table. "Rheumatic fever would explain the skin rash."

"Not the double vision or bloody urine."

"They were lost at sea for 3 days; maybe dehydration caused the kidney problems."

Chase glanced up from Cameron to watch House walk in, still wearing that stupid cap.

"And the double vision?"

"Concussion during the shipwreck."

"It all fits as long as these symptoms started when you think it started," Foreman interjected again, smugly, and annoyingly.

"This would be a lot easier if we had her medical records. Any of you certified deep sea divers?" House picked up one of the empty boxes scattered on the table, all previously containing leaving gifts for Foreman.

"She's from a dirt poor country in the tropics, infectious disease and parasites are the most likely cause of unexplained pain, fever and skin rash, we might as well start there,"

House sulked around the room, taking off his hat and putting on the anatomical brain model sat atop the shelving. "If there's one thing Castro knows is how to look great in green. And if there are two things Castro knows is how to look great in green and train doctors. Even without the medical records we can assume she was drowned in antibiotics before she risked drowning to see me." He glared at Foreman the entire time, but Foreman was unbothered, still sat with his back facing them.

"So what doesn't Castro know?" Cameron asked.

"How to lay his hands on high-tech scanning equipment. Pain, double vision, point us towards the head," House pointed at the list of symptoms Chase had written earlier. "Cameron get an MRI, see what's cooking in the old cabeza."

Chase rested his hand under his chin as he watched Cameron leave the room. With her gone and Foreman with his back still turned to them, he risked a softened glance up at House, who was too focused on peering at Foreman through the gaps between books on the shelves. He made a point to straighten his back and look innocent of 'spying' when he caught Chase’s eye.

"Check out the husband," It was an order, but anyone listening for it could hear how different the tone was to when he'd instructed Cameron.

"Why? He hasn't complained of any pain."

"Basic math, take all her symptoms, subtract his sea symptoms, the remainder equals her original symptoms."

Chase glanced between House and Foreman, still laughing away.

"Do you need me to repeat myself?" And House's tone changed just like that.

Fine. If that's how he wanted things to be. Let him spend the rest of the day pushing everyone away along with Foreman. Chase left the room, not before looking back and seeing House continue to stare at Foreman for a few seconds before heading into his office.

He tried to work out what emotion was on House's face and all he could think was that he looked dejected. Yeah, dejected. At this rate, he might even cave by lunchtime.

\-----

They'd certainly been through the ringer. The husband looked like a mess, and he wasn't even the one who was sick. Well, any sicker than you'd be from almost drowning in the middle of the sea.

The husband, 'Estaban' Chase quickly glanced back over at his file, coughed.

"You've pain?"

"No, I'm just sunburned."

Chase turned and picked the ophthalmoscope off the table, turning on the light and getting a close up look of Estaban's eyes. "Any blurred vision?"

"No," He answered. "So my wife, she is with doctor House?"

Oh boy, a question Chase wasn't looking forward to answering.

"She is with another doctor who is part of doctor House's team."

"No, she's supposed to see doctor House. We have permission."

The poor man, as if any amount of permission or orders could get House to come and see them. Hell, they could try and bribe the man and that wouldn't make him come. Maybe if it was a Harley Davidson or a Les Paul. Chase didn't think they'd be a time where he'd be able to name types of guitars but, with a soft feeling in his chest, he supposed he was picking things up.

But the soft feeling in his chest was not at all welcome when he was annoyed at House. He was stupid for thinking that any patient, no matter how badly they were hurting, no matter how little information they had, could be worth the great Doctor House's precious time.

And still, even with House being his usual self, he was the best chance they had.

"It's the way it works with doctor House."

"I came a thousand miles to see him!"

"He doesn't care." Chase thought about trying to soften the blow, but the words were coming out. "I'm sorry, but that's who he is, that's who you risked your life to see. And you made the right choice."

\-----

"The husband has a pulled muscle in his shoulder but none of the pains or double vision. He does have a fever, fungal rash, cough and elevated bilirubin. Foreman's not going anywhere." That was what finally got House to look at him, spinning in his chair. He was at the computer Foreman was sat at earlier and Chase hoped Foreman had logged out.

"He said that to you?"

"He doesn't really want to leave, and you don't really want to let him. You'll cave, just like you did with Cameron."

"Foreman's not as easy as Cameron, but of course, who is?"

"I'm in the room." Cameron glared at House over the top of the MRI scan in her hands.

Chase's mind was starting to change about the whole Foreman leaving thing. Perhaps he was going to stick his nose in it, because as the day wore on House was getting crankier and crankier. "He may not want a date but he does want... something."

"Maybe it's something I can't offer."

"Then you'll just lie."

"He'd see through it."

"Maybe. Or maybe he'll just see what he wants to see." That seemed to get some gears turning in House's head, as he turned to face Chase.

Chase was becoming aware that they were talking back and forth with such ease that it was like no one else was in the room with them. He wondered if Cameron was staring at both of them.

"She has MS," Foreman appeared out of nowhere. "Explains the pain, the fatigue, double vision, kidney problems."

"Her kidney problems aren't connected. Her husband has the same issues." Chase countered back.

"It is possible for two people to have the same symptom for 2 different reasons."

"If we're going to take that approach then we might as well just throw out everything we got from the husband and start over." Chase waved over at the potentially now useless whiteboard.

"We could do that, or we could do something productive," Why did Chase want Foreman back again? "Start her on interferon for the MS, see if she improves."

They both turned to look at House. Chase gave House an incredulous look, mouthing 'what?' at him. Surely he couldn't even consider Foreman's suggestion.

“I do like being productive. Well done, do it." House nodded and Chase and Cameron stared as Foreman left the room.

Chase blanched. "'Well done?' Is that what you think he wants? A pat on the head?"

"Go do your job," House spoke, not meeting his eyes.

_Alright, if that's the way you want it._

\-----

Here they were, the four of them, gazing upon an x-ray of Marina's now broken wrist. A wrist that had been broken by Foreman twisting her arm around.

Well, today sure was something.

“Wow. Well either Foreman's way stronger than he thinks he is or..." House spun around dramatically. Waiting. "Seriously or?"

"She's too young for osteoporosis that severe," Cameron said.

"And too old for osteogenesis imperfecta," Chase finished.

Foreman sighed. "Which leaves bone cancer."

"Cancer's a long shot." _Just like MS was._ Chase didn't say that part out loud. He knew it wasn't MS, for Christ’s sake, House _knew_ it wasn't MS and he let Foreman go ahead and give her the treatment anyway which had now just made her pain worse. For all they knew, it's also what was causing her bones to deteriorate suddenly.

"Why? Because metastatic tumours don't explain the abnormal MRI, kidney damage, cotton mouth, double vision?" House prattled. "Oh wait, they do."

"Infection could do all that too."

"It's not an infection," House grimaced and when he looked up at Chase, he wasn't really looking at him.

Oh so now House had the nerve to be annoyed at him?

"Because you know the non-existent medical records confirm that the brilliant doctors in Cuba treated her for infection? Or because you're trying to kiss up to Foreman?"

He saw Foreman glance between the out of the corner of his eye. It seemed like Foreman was enjoying this. Bastard.

"Because an infection would cause a fever and the brilliant doctors who work in my office have already crossed that off the list because the husband-"

"You were the one who said that it's possible for two people to have the same symptom for two different reasons," Chase cut House off and turned to Foreman.

He could feel himself getting hot out of nowhere. Alright well maybe it was out of _somewhere_. It wasn't like they'd didn't all argue at work all the time, but this. After how many years of wanting approval and House denied them and they lived with it, now Foreman gets his arse kissed because he wants to leave. And all of this, this, _playing_ , was while they were trying to diagnose a patient and save her live. A human life in the balance of this stupid test House was doing to try and get Foreman to stay.

"And you're the one who said if we do that, we might as well throw out everything we got from the husband."

"Right, and then you said we should do something productive like breaking her arm?"

"Foreman didn't break her arm." House said.

Chase turned away from them and muttered. "Of course he didn't."

"Cancer did," And Chase perked his head up. Oh, so he was going with another one of Foreman's brilliant theories. "Put her on a PET scan, see what else is breaking."

House turned and started to leave the room.

Don't say it. Don't say it. Just let him walk out and leave. Let him continue to be who he's always going to be. Let Foreman leave and quit and let things try and go to normal. Just try and deal with everything a little while longer-

"This isn't going to work!" Chase's voice was out of his mouth and rising in pitch before he could contain it. "He's not a moron, you can't just agree with everything he says for two days and hope he forgets the last three years and how much he hates you!"

He felt Cameron and Foreman's eyes on him.

Everything was quiet and still for a moment.

"Anything else?" House faced them like Chase hadn't even spoken. Chase looked at the floor. Ashamed at not being able to control his outburst. Why couldn't he have at least held it it until they were alone.

"When you get the results for the PET scan, let me know," He felt House's eyes on him as he spoke. Of course now he would finally look at him.

Chase glanced up, catching a hint of House's eyes before he turned away and left the room. He wasn't smirking, he wasn't being playful or spiteful. He looked oddly sad, and oddly resolute.

Foreman left the room pretty quickly after that, followed by Cameron.

He'd fucked that one right up.

But he could fix it, right? He hoped nothing was broken enough that it really needed fixing. Just, patching up a little...

The fact that House hadn't looked angry meant somehow he'd crossed a line.

But how? They'd fought about way more serious stuff, and this, this is what House gets upset by.

They weren't leaving this hanging until they got home.

If Foreman was staying or going, Chase didn't fucking care anymore, this just needed to stop. They needed to all act like adults. House needed to decide what he wanted and then either ask Foreman to stay or back off treating him differently.

His hands were shaking as he approached House's office. He considered knocking, but didn't want to give House the option of turning him away.

He rested his hand on the door handle for a second before pushing it open.

House stopped going through his desk and stared at him, not breaking eye contact as he let the stack of papers drop from his hands onto the desk.

Chase relaxed his posture. Perhaps he could try and act like that outburst hadn't been that big of a deal. How sensitive could House really be about all of this?

"I don't really care if Foreman stays or goes but-"

"You're fired."

...

What?

Chase took a couple steps forward, regretting it as the room seemed to tilt and shift. House almost looked like he'd been crying. He thought he'd been getting angry earlier, but it turned out that was nothing. He couldn't... He couldn't be serious.

Because firing meant more than just that.

They both knew it.

Or Chase knew it. Even if House couldn't be empathetic enough to consider it.

"Wha..." Chase struggled to get words out. His face shifted from shock to confusion to a nervous laugh at the ridiculousness of this. "What because I yelled at you?"

"Because you've been here the longest, learned all you can, or you haven't learned anything at all... either way, it's time for a change."

 _It's time for a change_.

The words echoed in Chase's ears. House was looking at him, really looking at him, and he looked more serious than Chase had ever seen him.

Chase just stared. He turned slightly to look behind him, almost as if he was afraid he was being punked, then back at House.

House opened his mouth as if he was going to say something. Oh, _please say something_. Take it back. Say you were joking.

But he closed his mouth without saying anything.

Chase could feel tears stinging the corner of his eyes and his face felt like it wasn't attached to his skull anymore.

"Fine," He choked out, surprised at how calm his voice sounded.

House just nodded and looked back down at his papers.

_He better at least have the fucking decency to look back at me as I leave._

If he could just keep the tears in until he reached the locker room then everything would be fine.

Well, nothing would be fine. Nothing was fine. He couldn't believe House!

He didn't care how angry House was at him or Foreman, but to just fire him like that, kick him out without a second thought when he's supposed to care about him, just because he's annoyed things aren't going his way.

Or... _Or_ whilst realising he did indeed have a heart, he took one look at it and decided caring about people scared him.

Wilson had warned him about this, about House pushing him away. It was a little hard to fight back though when you now had no job and thus no income or way of continuing to pay rent or...

Fuck. He'd moved in with House three months ago. As if worrying about finding a new job and having his heart broken wasn't enough to be dealing with, he was now also homeless.

This day was just getting better and better.

His coat got thrown across the room, he didn't care where. A white puddle on the dirty floor. If House didn't care about the mess he made, why should Chase.

He moved on autopilot as he forced himself to get changed, throwing everything into his bag, almost breaking the zip as he yanked it closed. The brown leather crunched under his hands as they tightened into fists and he tried to remember how to breathe before sinking down on the bench and giving into feeling sorry for himself.

Who knows how long he sat there, drowning in his tears. Noises of people walking around and chattering outside pulled his head above the water enough to know he couldn't do this here. He couldn't cry and lost it while at work... or... well it wasn't work anymore, was it. Still. He didn't want anyone seeing him like this.

Standing on shaky legs, he put on his jacket and grabbed his bag. He looked in the mirror and no amount of wiping was going to help the redness under his eyes go down. Deep breaths. Just act professional. Outline a plan and follow it and get out of the building.

First, he needed to get a box to collect the few things he had scattered around the conference room. At least he knew where they were kept so he didn't need to ask anyone. On the way back to the conference room he'd pass by the corridor leading to the MRI scanners, he might as well say a last goodbye to Cameron and Foreman. And then he just needed to collect his things and hopefully House wasn't still in his office-

His stomach lurched. God, please let him just not throw up.

Alright, so he'd collect his things and force himself to forget that the conference room was connected to any other rooms.

Some of the nurse's looked at him with raised eyebrows, turning to whisper and gossip as they saw him in his regular clothes. Let them focus on that rather than notice his puffy eyes.

Box in hand, he pushed open the door to the room where Mariana was having yet another MRI scan.

"No tumours in her arm, sinovial membrane's working fine," Foreman's voice drifted out from the observation room.

"No hotspots, no bone cancer. Maybe we should be looking for something else," Cameron's voice joined him.

Their heads turned to him as he opened the door.

"Is it raining out?"

"House... fired me," There. He'd said it. And it didn't feel real.

"What?" Foreman leaned forward in his chair.

"Because you yelled at him?" Cameron looked concerned. He supposed that was nice.

"'Time for a change' was the official explanation," He could hear his voice wavering now.

"It makes no sense."

"Since when does House make sense?" Foreman's voice was quiet. Maybe he felt guilty? Chase almost wished he could blame Foreman for this, but no. No one could have thought this was going to happen.

"He always makes sense."

"He's angry."

"Yes, it's all about you Foreman. He's upset you're leaving so he fires Chase."

But maybe it was about Foreman. Maybe House really was this bad at caring about people that if one person he cared about left, even if he just cared about them as a colleague or friend, it meant he had to lash out at someone, even they were someone he cared about more.

An area on the monitor in front of Foreman caught his eye. "Uh... Excuse me," They both turned to look at him as he pointed at the screen. "By the humerus, she's got a hotspot."

It was a good distraction. Get them to look away from him because it turned out he was terrible at goodbyes, and also point out something helpful.

His own footsteps rang in his ears like bells as he made his way to the conference room. Luckily there wasn't much in here and the blinds to the office where down. He could just grab his things and go.

Chase didn't have many that belongings in the conference room. Some papers and folders, a couple of mugs... A sinking feeling started in the pit of his stomach as he remembered seeing one of them in House's officer that morning. The bastard would take them pretending not to know they were Chase's, as an excuse for Chase to come storming into his office.

It was just a mug, just a stupid mug, there was no need to go in there...

Everyone thought he was a coward, and they were right, weren't they? He couldn't even go in and talk to his boyfriend and boss (and okay so maybe that wasn't the healthiest combination) to check what the fuck was going on.

House probably thought that too, that he could just get rid of Chase that easily. And didn't that just make his blood boil all over again.

Chase dropped the box on the table and pushed opened the door that connected the conference room and House's office, the blinds clattering and crashing as they were forced to move.

House had the nerve to look surprised.

"I said I wouldn't let you push me away, and I meant it. But House... That doesn't mean I'll let you take advantage of me, and use me and throw me out like a piece of rubbish, just because you think no matter what I'll come crawling back. I deserve better than that!"

His shoulders were heaving and he was probably going to start crying again but fuck it, he wanted House to see how he was feeling. He wanted House to see that he was feeling fucking _something_.

"Is that what this is all about? Realised you can't cope with having someone care about you? Because if you tell me that you're firing me in the hopes it'll make Foreman stay I will actually punch you. Is it because you can't work with someone you're dating? Because if anything, I think us both working here helps our relationship."

House moved his eyes down to his desk. His face was blank.

"I said," House spoke slowly. "It was time for a change."

"What the fuck does that mean?! Time to freshen up the workplace, or you think you need a change in who you wake up next to in the morning as well?"

"This doesn't have to end-"

"Yes. It does. Give me a better reason for firing me or we're over."

He stared and waited. And waited. And waited. And House just kept staring at the floor.

"I guess we're over then."

He didn't care how many people stared at him as he left. He didn't care that he heard someone, possible Wilson, call his name. He kept walking and walking, until he got to his car, throwing his belongings into the back seat, before sealing himself in the front.

It had been too loud in the hospital. But it was too quiet in the car. He turned the radio on only to instantly turn it back off.

Fuck! He smashed his hands against the steering wheel.

Fuck this. Fuck House.

He was driving home- No. He was driving to House's apartment and grabbing his things and then he needed to book a fucking hotel room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm aware that my writing has changed (and hopefully gotten better) in six months so this you may notice a difference between how this chapter and the future ones are written and how chapter 1 was written. Hopefully that isn't too jarring, and hopefully if you do notice any change it's a good one. I didn't realise writing this fic was going to take a little out of me, don't know if that's because of the connotations I have with the last time I wrote for them or just that writing angsty arguments isn't the funniest thing to write, so I'll keep working on this but I'll probably also write something else between writing each chapter of this.


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